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Authors: Gillian Cross

The Nightmare Game (25 page)

BOOK: The Nightmare Game
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The three of them caught the bus into town and walked from there. By the time they reached Stepney Square, Tom's heart was beating so fast that he could hardly breathe. As they went up the stairs from the street, he had to stop halfway, holding onto the wall. But his determination didn't waver.
I'm not going away without seeing him. If he isn't in, I'll just sit on the landing and wait.
There was no need for that. Magee was in. He opened the door immediately, as soon as Robert knocked. Tom drew a long breath and met his eyes, full on.
His head was full of words, but as soon as he saw Magee he realized that he didn't need to speak any of them out loud. Whatever had happened to him, Magee
knew
, just by looking at him.
“Welcome,” Magee said softly. “It's time to talk at last.”
“It certainly is,” Robert said impatiently, not giving Tom a chance to reply. “We haven't got any more time for riddles. We need straight answers now.”
Magee's eyes flicked sideways, taking in Emma's filthy clothes and her ragged, cropped hair. “I can see that,” he said. “But don't worry. You'll get them.”
“Not out here, though.” Emma took a step forward. “Can't we come inside?”
Her voice sounded brisk, as it always did, but Tom could feel the tension behind the words. She was tired and hungry, and the last twenty four hours had shaken her badly. In spite of that, she didn't flinch under Magee's eyes. Lifting her head, she stared straight back at him.
After a second, he smiled and nodded. “Glad to see you're all right—in spite of that thuggish hairstyle. Yes, you can come in.” And he stepped aside, waving them through the door.
The inside of the apartment was completely unexpected. Tom was imagining a magician's den, full of candles and purple velvet drapes. But it was cool and bare, with very little furniture and blinds at the windows. The front door opened straight into a small living room with a glass table and two shabby armchairs. A ginger cat was curled up on one of the chairs and it lifted its head warily as they walked in.
“I'll fetch some stools from the kitchen,” said Magee. “George doesn't care to be disturbed.”
He went through a door on the far side of the room and they heard him clattering around for a few moments. When he came back, he was carrying a stack of cheap plastic stools with a plate balanced on top of them.
“I thought we might have some shortbread,” he said easily, putting the plate down on the table. “Don't wait for me. Help yourselves.”
Emma looked hungrily at the shortbread, but none of them bent to take a piece. They stood awkwardly, close together, while Magee arranged the stools in a semicircle, facing the empty chair. He took one of the stools himself and waved a hand, inviting them to sit down.
Emma sank quickly into the empty armchair. “This feels like the most comfortable seat in the whole world.”
“You've obviously been somewhere very
un
comfortable,” said Magee.
“She was kidnapped,” Robert said roughly. “Kept in a hole under a conservatory floor. I think you know the place.”
It was almost a question, but Magee didn't answer it. Instead, he asked one of his own. “So how did she come to escape?”
“We guessed where she was,” Robert said. “So we went to rescue her. And then Tom—and then Mr. Armstrong—” He stopped.
Magee's head turned slowly. “I thought it might be something like that,” he said. “Can you tell me what happened, Tom?” His stare was so piercing that it hurt.
Tom looked down to avoid it. “I didn't mean to do anything,” he muttered. “I just meant to grab Emma and take her out of there. But when I saw all the Armstrongs together, I couldn't bear it. There was too much pressure. I just—” His voice died away.
Magee didn't let him stop there. “You just—what?” he said.
“I—” Tom scrabbled for words to describe it. “I looked at Mr. Armstrong and I thought of the place. The way you told me to. And then I
pushed
with my mind, and suddenly—”
Faltering again, he lifted his head and saw everyone staring at him. Robert and Emma looked completely bewildered, but Magee was nodding.
“You found the power,” he said softly. “You felt the trap they were in, with all its pain and anger. And you found out how to break through and set them free. Well done.”
“What do you mean?” Robert said irritably. “What trap?
What
did he break?”
“He broke the pattern,” said Magee. “The situation that was ruining all their lives. He tapped into the power of that pain and
used
it. To play the game.”
“The
game
?” Tom burst out. That was the last word he would have used. “How can you call it that?”
Magee smiled. “I call it the Rescue Game. Or sometimes Magee's Cure. Because it makes things better. And that's what you did. You saved them, Tom.”
Emma was still looking baffled. “Who did he save—apart from me?”
“He saved all the Armstrongs,” said Magee. “And especially Mr. Armstrong.” He looked at Tom again. “Isn't that right?”
No, it's not,
Tom wanted to say.
It's WRONG. It must be wrong to interfere with someone's life like that.
But he wasn't sure anymore. What he'd done, down in the black room, had broken the obsession that imprisoned all the Armstrongs. Wasn't that a good thing?
Robert was frowning, trying to understand what Magee was talking about. “I don't get it,” he said. “What does he mean? What did you
do
, Tosh?”
How could he be so obtuse? Wasn't it obvious by now? Tom was almost angry as he spelled it out. “I did what Magee did to you. I
shrank
Mr. Armstrong. Pushed him out of the life he was living and dumped him down on the ground, on his own. To live or die.”
As soon as he'd said the words, he saw that it hadn't been obvious at all. Robert and Emma looked horrified.
“That's impossible,” Emma said. “You're not like that, Tom. You're good. You care about people.”
“Of course he cares about people,” Magee said wearily. “That's the whole point. Why do you think he has headaches and blurred vision and bruises all over his body? That's what happens when you care too much—and you can't do anything to help.”
“I wasn't like that before I met you,” Tom said gruffly. “Not the bruises and the headaches and everything. What have you done to me?”
“I
recognized
you,” said Magee. “The first time I saw you, I knew you could be like me. All you needed was . . . sharpening up a bit. Once I'd done that, it was only a matter of time before you discovered the power.”
“I don't want power!” Tom said fiercely. “Whatever you did, you've got to take it away. I just want to be an ordinary person.”
Magee shook his head. “Your eyes are open now. You can see into people's lives. There's no going back on that. From now on, you have to live with the pain that brings. Or heal the pain by playing the Rescue Game.”
“You mean I'm going to be like this forever?” Tom said. “For the rest of my life?”
“It gets easier,” Magee said gently. “Once you understand how much you're helping people.”
Robert almost exploded. “
Helping
people? How can you call it that? Don't you realize what it's like, down there in the cavern? They spend their whole lives struggling to protect themselves and stay warm and find enough to eat. And then—when it gets really cold—they die.”
“But everything they do has
meaning
,” said Magee. Suddenly his eyes were alight. “What does it matter if their lives are short? Every single moment is significant and intense and vital. Isn't that better than what they've left behind?” His eyes sharpened, fixing on Robert's face. “Are you trying to tell me it wasn't better for
you
?”
“I—” Robert hesitated and stopped.
Tom could feel his angry confusion. And he understood what was holding him back. Robert had changed, down in the cavern. He'd grown stronger and braver and more confident, shaking off the fears that had held him back before.
Wasn't that a good thing?
Emma was watching them both. Frowning, as though she was trying to puzzle things out. “Let me get this straight,” she said slowly. “Are you telling us Mr. Armstrong is down in the woods, Tom? In the cavern?”
Tom nodded. “I think so.”
“He's down there
now
?” Emma said. “The way Robert was?”
What was the matter with her? Why couldn't she take it in? “That's right,” Tom said. “I know it's hard, but you've got to believe it, Em.”
Emma frowned again. “So he's down there
with Hope
?”
The words hit Tom like a punch in the chest. He hadn't seen it. He hadn't thought, not for a moment, that he was doing
that
.
Robert obviously hadn't seen it either. Suddenly his face was white. “He can't be in the cavern. He
can't
. They wouldn't let him in.”
“You've got to understand—” said Magee. But they never heard what it was they had to understand, because he broke off there. For a second he leaned forward intently, listening. Then he slid off his stool. “Excuse me for a moment.”
As he strode across the room, there was a sound of scuttling feet outside. When he opened the front door the little landing was empty, but they could all hear the noises on the stairs. Someone was making a clumsy attempt to creep away without being caught.
Magee walked over to the top of the staircase. “Ah,” he said, looking down. “It's you. Why don't you come up and join us?”
The footsteps paused. Hesitated.
“It's perfectly safe,” Magee said. “And we've got some shortbread.”
“What's he doing?” Robert muttered. “We can't talk with some stranger here. We've got to find out—”
But it was too late to protest. The clumsy, blundering footsteps started again, but this time they were coming up. Tom saw Emma's face change suddenly, as though she recognized them. When they reached the landing, she turned around in her chair.
“Hello, Warren,” she said, as he appeared in the doorway.
Robert jumped to his feet. “No,” he said. “Not him, Magee. He can't come in here!”
“Sit down!” Magee said sharply. “If you don't like the company I keep, you can go elsewhere.” He nodded at Warren. “In you go.”
Warren stood frozen in the doorway, looking terrified. Tom could see the fear coming out of him, thick and suffocating, like stinking smoke.
“Go on.” Magee put a hand on his back and gave him a push. “Have some shortbread.”
Warren lurched across the room and crouched down awkwardly to take a piece of shortbread. He crammed it into his mouth with both hands, peering at them over his fingers. The air pulsed in Tom's ears and when Robert spoke, the words thundered around his skull.
“You followed us here, didn't you?” Robert growled at Warren. “You've been sneaking around, listening outside the door.”
Warren didn't answer. He just stared at Robert, as though he was too petrified to look away.
Robert glanced at Magee. “He can't stay here. You've got to make him go.”
“We've heard a lot about what you want,” Magee said coldly. “Maybe someone else should have a chance to speak.”
His voice was tenser than it had been. Through the black haze in his head, Tom thought,
He can feel it, too. Warren's getting to him—and he doesn't like it.
Warren had been following the conversation silently, pushing shortbread into his mouth and looking from one face to another. He gulped down the mouthful he was chewing and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Well?” said Magee, still in the same chilly, impatient voice. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
For a second, Warren was struggling to speak. Then the words came in a rush. “What's all that stuff about danger?” he blurted. “And people freezing to death? Dad always said Hope would die if anyone took her away. You've got to give her back. Where is she?”
“You wouldn't believe it if we told you,” Robert said bitterly.
But Warren wasn't going to be fobbed off like that. “You think I'm stupid,” he said fiercely. “But I'm
not
. I found out where you lived, didn't I? I scared you all. And I took your sister away—the same as you took mine.” His voice was rising, hysterically.
“Oh dear,” Magee said, under his breath. “Oh
dear.
. . .”
The stinking black fog thickened in front of Tom. He could still hear Warren's voice, but the pressure in his head was beginning to distort the words. He wasn't sure anymore whether he was hearing right.
“I took your sister away,” said the hysterical voice, “and I made her
my other dame
, I made her
tread my home
. I did it, and you couldn't stop me, even though you are
the terror body
.
You were just a
red toy brother
—”
The words were incomprehensible nonsense, but the pain was real. More violent than ever before. And it was even worse because Tom knew, this time, that there was a way out. He couldn't—he mustn't—
But why not? If he didn't play the game, Magee would do it. What was the point in waiting for that? Why not do it himself? Now?
Dimly, through the fog, he saw Warren waving his hands about, talking faster and faster. “—you can't have Hope as part of your
Rescue Game
.
She doesn't need
Magee's Cure
, whatever it is.
Curse Magee—
”
BOOK: The Nightmare Game
9.9Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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